Boulder County’s elected leadership, and its advisory boards and commissions, are not reflective of the racial and ethnic diversity of the county as a whole.
In 1990, 93 percent of the county’s residents were Anglo, or non-Hispanic white. By 2015, more than 20 percent of the county identified as a person of color.
Yet in 2017 only four out of the 106 elected officials in Boulder County were people of color, according to a review by the Boulder County Commissioners’ Office. That included all city and town councils, county officials, school boards, RTD, statehouse and Congressional leadership.
In addition, only 42 of the 833 volunteers serving on advisory boards and commissions around the county were people of color – just 5 percent.
This disparity between who we are and who leads us raises a fair question: When will our marginalized populations truly be heard?
